The many faces of Elsie

Here are some pictures I took the other night while we were playing. I have decided that Elsie should be an actress or something because she can pull off many faces and emotions in such a short amount of time. I love it! Each face she makes just melts my heart...even when she's pouting because I won't let her hold the camera.

we remember you

Today is Paxton's birthday. I'm so grateful for the short time we had with him. I miss him and can't wait to see him again. I think about him every day.

you can't beat this

My favorite part of this evening...Elsie singing along to the "oh oh oh" part of Single Ladies (by Beyonce) while we were in the car.

just truckin' along

I keep thinking I need to update my blog, but I don't really have a whole lot to say. We haven't had anything super exciting happen. My life right now pretty much consists of going to the gym, trying to figure out what to eat (or not eat!), and keeping Elsie entertained without being able to play outside. Okay, I'm sure there's more than that.

We put hardware on our cabinets in the kitchen. It looks really good and it makes it so much easier to open them. There wasn't much of a ledge to grab onto before, so this has made my life just that much easier!

Elsie has decided that she doesn't want to go to sleep at night. She has been SO good about going down for naps and going to bed, so this really came out of nowhere. She has learned all sorts of stalling techniques, and we were such suckers. The other night it took her 2 hours of crying (and a little bit of us snuggling her) to finally give in and fall asleep. Last night Aaron was able to get her calmed down and talk her into going to bed on time. It was a miracle! It's not so fun watching our shows at night while Elsie is screaming from upstairs.

I went out to lunch with my cousin Myca yesterday. Elsie was obsessed with Boston (her son) and kept saying "Bah Bah" all day. It was fun getting to visit with her, see her BEAUTIFUL new house, and get out of my normal, boring routine. There's nothing like being with family!

I didn't have mutual this week, and I was totally ok with that. This whole Young Women's calling is kind of a lot of work. Really, I've got the time and am capable...I just don't always have the energy to keep up with those girls. We did have our talent show last week and we did our Thriller dance. It went pretty well, and the girls were all surprised that their leaders could dance. It was pretty funny! The Young Men leaders danced to that Soldier Boy song...Crank That. It was hilarious, but slightly awkward at a church activity. I don't think they knew the words to the song. But I'm sure the kids did!

Sorry, no pictures. I'm a slacker. We're off to the library today, and that's always a good time!

food...how I miss thee

Well, we're doing the diet thing and not failing miserably. That's something to be proud of...right?! I've lost a couple pounds already. I'm only slightly starving most of the day. I do feel better...maybe it's a mental thing.

I really have gotten to the point that I really like working out. I didn't get to do my normal stuff this week because I had a hurt foot. I missed it!

I had to include these cute pictures of Elsie. She loves to copy everything we do. This time she wanted to stretch out with Daddy after he got back from his run.

Birthday Fun

We didn't really go crazy for Elsie's birthday this year because 1) it's right after Christmas and 2) she really doesn't care. I was tempted to not even make a cake since I knew she wouldn't eat it. Aaron and I are both doing WW, so having a full cake around the house did not seem like a good idea. Aaron convinced me that we needed to make a cake (at least for pictures) and so invited a few friends over to join the party.

I took Elsie to the doctor this week for her check-up. She now weighs a whopping 21.5 pounds and is 31.5 inches tall. That puts her in the first percentile for both. I talked to the doctor about Elsie's eating habits. The doctor isn't super concerned about her weight (she is really fine for her height) but more about her nutrition. She recommended I go see this eating specialist to try to get some help. I'm not totally sold on the idea. It's not like I haven't tried a million different foods and methods of getting her to eat them...or even try them. She's just so stinkin' stubborn. It has to be her idea or there's no hope. We'll see...maybe I'll make an appointment and see what she has to say.

Elsie is Two!!

I can't believe this day is already here!! My little girl (I still want to say baby) is two! She is the most amazing, wonderful, funny, strong-willed, cute thing in the world. She is so smart and has quite the sense of humor. Sometimes she doesn't even know why she's laughing, but she has to join in on the fun.

It was two years ago today that we got a call very early in the morning from Greg that Piper was going into labor. With the way things were progressing it wasn't looking very promising for us to get to UT in time for the birth, but we hustled down there (despite the horrible driving conditions). Right about at Burley, Greg called and we heard Elsie's cry for the first time. What an amazing experience! Not quite how I had it planned out (but, really, what was I expecting...you'd think I would've learned by then that life usually doesn't work out as planned), but wonderful nonetheless.

It was kind of a strange experience walking into hospital room a few hours after her birth. Many of Aaron's family members were already there and had the chance to meet Elsie. I didn't really know what to think or how to feel seeing this baby that was mine and having all these people watching me see her for the first time. It took a little bit for me to really get comfortable and feel like she was mine. It was very surreal. I remember it suddenly hit me and felt very real and right. I'm so grateful for Piper and for everyone else that made that day possible. It has changed me and made my life so much better in so many ways. I will be eternally thankful.
The first year with Elsie was great. Quite a learning experience...and very tiring! Just a few days after her first birthday we moved up to WA. I'm not going to deny that this year has been a lot more fun with her. I love looking back and remembering her as a baby, but as she's grown into a toddler I've been amazed every day at the new things she does and at watching her personality really develop.

Here she is on her first birthday. Let's not forget, by the way, that Aaron gave her a totally jacked up bang cut just prior to this...and she looks a bit like a boy. Oh well, I think I have some pictures of myself that are just as bad. Good thing she is so cute anyway!

I haven't taken any pictures of her in the last few days, but I'll get some during our little celebration this evening.

(I will have to continue this post tomorrow...we've got a party to prepare for!)

other news

Angie helped me cut Elsie's hair while we were in WA. It was hard for me to want to cut off her cute curls in the back, but I had to. It was about 2 inches longer than the sides...a little mullety if you ask me. She looks like such a big girl now. It's still pretty curly when it's wet, but it gets pretty straight in the back when it dries. Oh well, it will hopefully grow out more evenly now and get curlier.

We finally got our ottoman that we bought a couple months ago. It took way longer to arrive than we were originally told, but it was so worth it. It is so wonderful! The top opens up for storage and holds so much more than I was expecting it would. I was getting so frustrated that I had nowhere to put Elsie's toys, but now I'm able to put just about everything in there. Now that we have the toys stored and our Christmas decorations put away, I feel so clean and organized.

I have to laugh about this! As you know, Elsie is not much of an eater. However, she has never wavored in her love for pizza. So, now that she was her new set of play food for her kitchen, what does she pick to carry around with her all day...yes, the pizza!

Let's see...I'm officially dieting and hating it. The finaly motivation I needed was when Aaron and I weighed ourselves the other night, and I now weigh more than him. Only a pound, but still!! Wow, that just about made me want to jump off a cliff. I've got a long way to go, but I know I can do it.

I'm having major January, bad weather blues, but I'm working through it. Aaron and I were going to plan a fun trip next month and go somewhere warm...but that's not going to happen. We decided to be realistic. We've already got a trip to CA planned for September, so we'll just have to look forward to that. At least the snow we got a couple days ago is melting away.

That's it for now. Oh, I have to learn the Thriller dance for a YM/YW talent show next week. It's a lot harder than I was expecting...or maybe I'm just not as coordinated as I used to be. This could end up being very embarrassing!!

In WA for the new year

Old news to most of you, I know. Sorry!

We went up to ML/Tri-Cities last weekend for Carson's baptism and to see Mitch who was visiting from NY. It was a great time. It went way too fast, but we got to see lots of family and be together...which makes me so happy.

We were in ML for the first couple of days. Grandma made us a yummy spaghetti dinner the night we all got there and then spoiled us with her homemade pie...apricot! On Friday we were able to visit more in the morning and then J/L, their kids, and Mitch headed down to Pasco to meet up with my dad. On Saturday we headed down to Jared's house to hang out and attend Carson's baptism. It was such a great day. The baptism was so special, and we were so happy that Angie decided to have Qiana blessed then as well. We were going to head home that night, but we decided to spend the night and I'm so glad we did. It was so much fun staying up late with the kids and goofing around.

Elsie was not sure what to think of Mitch. She didn't exactly treat him very kindly all the time have I mentioned before that she has major attitude?!) but it could've have been because he would just egg her on and pester her just to see her reaction. Some things never change! I wanted to get a picture of Mitch with Elsie, but she was not willing to cooperate. Angie finally had to step in and hold her for the picture. (Elsie was OBSESSED with Gigi the whole time we were there. She would not leave her side. It was pretty much pointless for Aaron or I to even be around. I know Ang says she didn't mind, but, seriously, she was a leach.)

Yes, Mitch it poking Elsie in the face. Elsie was not giving us super great smiles, so Aaron started doing little dances behind me to get her to smile. It seemed to work better for Mitch and Angie. It's always fun to laugh at Aaron!